


we'll be the last ones standing at the end of the world

by artemis_west



Category: Pynch - Fandom, Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Boys
Genre: Drabble Collection, Drabbles, M/M, Multi, One Shot Collection, The Raven King Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 09:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6747913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemis_west/pseuds/artemis_west
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Cabeswater fell, Adam felt it in his entire being. Ronan felt it in his dreams, even when he was awake. Blue felt it in her heart. But sadness, wistfulness, mourning for their special place, their dream-forest, and all of the memories they had cultivated there, was not what overcame them all. When Cabeswater fell, there was relief. There was the future, endless and shimmering and full of possibilities. And there was Gansey, on the ground in front of them, opening his eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> So! I finished reading TRK about four days ago, and then I decided I couldn't bear it being over so I read the entirety of the series over again in the last three days. I have carefully analyzed and picked apart every single pynch moment written in the pages of all four books of The Raven Cycle and I have silently died through all of them, so this is me writing from the grave.   
> This is mostly pynch as a result of that, but I threw the rest of them in there too because I love them all like my children and I can't bear to let them go. This is a collection of one-shots that all take place, in order, in the months between when Gansey died and when Adam/Gansey/Blue/Henry graduated from school. It features a lot of Ronan and Adam figuring out their relationship. (I'll be adding to it throughout most of the day and I'm only taking a break to go take my Spanish final.) Enjoy!

"Wake up," Blue Sargent said.

When Cabeswater fell, Adam felt it in his entire being. Ronan felt it in his dreams, even when he was painfully awake. Blue felt it in her heart. But sadness, wistfulness, mourning for their special place, their dream-forest, and all of the memories they had cultivated there, was not what overcame them all. When Cabeswater fell, there was relief. There was the future, endless and shimmering and full of possibilities. And there was Gansey, on the ground in front of them, opening his eyes.

One twice-previously deceased Richard Campbell Gansey III opened his eyes on a new life for the second time. They stared at the blue sky above him, and when they came into focus, they saw Blue, and Henry, and Ronan and Adam standing above him, and everyone seemed to be smiling so wide that he had to smile himself. 

Blue threw her arms around Gansey's neck, tackling him to the ground again. She was laughing, or crying, or sobbing - it was sort of a mix of all three. Henry Cheng was grinning widely. Ronan Lynch sat back, and his whole body sighed. He laughed, and the sound was pure, vibrant, throaty and joyful, and then Chainsaw joined in, and then Orphan Girl galloped around them and sang, "Kerah, kerah!" Adam Parrish closed his eyes and smiled, feeling the loss of Cabeswater in him, even when he knew it wasn't really gone - it still existed, in Gansey, in dreams, in all of their hearts and their memories and the unshakable bond they held between the four of them.

Ronan stood up, laughing some more, and the expression on his face was pure joy and enlightenment and he looked happier than Adam had ever seen him. Adam wanted to take a picture, so he could keep Ronan here forever, just like this, unadulterated happiness emanating from him. 

They all laughed again, because Gansey was here, Gansey was alive, and the demon was gone. 

The air was charged with electricity and possibility and at the same time, a softness and a lightness that brushed Adam's skin and made him feel hopeful for what felt like the first time in months.

Ronan sidled up to him, and without thinking, Adam let his fingers twine through Ronan's. Unaware of it himself, he had answered a question that had been weighing on Ronan's lips since their first kiss. Adam closed his eyes and rested his head on Ronan's shoulder with relief, a smile playing across his features. Ronan's hand in his own felt like the beginning of something.

"Noah," Gansey said suddenly, and everyone stopped and looked around as if they expected to see their long-dead friend standing beside them. But Noah Czerny was not there. They all felt his absence, suddenly and painfully, in a way that they hadn't before. 

"It was him," Gansey continued, his voice reverent and full of wonder. "All this time . . ."

"What happened to him?" Ronan asked, and Blue closed her eyes. 

"I think he's . . . passed on," she said. But she didn't sound sad. There was a small smile on her face, as if she were happy for him. "Finally. He's at peace."

They all sat there for a moment, weighing the absence of their friend in their hearts. But they had already mourned for Noah, months before, and now, there was simply peace in all of them. Acceptance. Happiness. 

"So," Henry Cheng said, breaking the silence. "What do we do now?"

They all laughed again. They knew Gansey had to repair the damage he'd done by missing his mother's fund-raiser at the school, find a way to explain his absence, carefully navigate the ramifications of what it would mean for his mother's political campaign, but that seemed so trivial in the moment. Because Gansey was here, alive and warm in front of them.

"I guess we should go see what the rest of the town looks like," Blue suggested, a little uncertainly. "To see if any of the demon is left over."

"No," Adam said, assuredly. "It's gone. I can feel it." It was no longer controlling his hands; no longer making him want to destroy. To hurt Ronan. Adam was only himself, and he would never hurt Ronan again.

"Cabeswater's gone, too," Ronan said. He sounded a bit mournful for his dream-forest. Adam leaned into him, and this answered another unspoken question.

"I suppose this means we move on, now," Gansey said, holding Blue's hand. He seemed tethered to it. There was a smile on his face, as if the idea of moving on, going forward, striding boldly and confidently into the future, pleased him. And because Blue was a mirror, her smile matched his. 

"We move on," she said. 

"We move on," Henry Cheng agreed. "The future lies before us, my new friends, bright and bold and shiny like RoboBee." 

Adam and Ronan looked at each other. Ronan's mouth quirked in a half-smile, and Adam's heart did a funny thing in his chest.

They moved on.


	2. 2

They went to Nino's. 

It seemed appropriate, because depending on where you began the story, it began at Nino's. It was where Gansey had first left his journal for Blue to find and it had started a chain of events that would unravel a hole in the world and fill it with dreams.

Blue felt euphoric. She almost didn't recognize the feeling, because she had not felt this happy in so long. She sat sandwiched between Gansey and Henry in a corner booth, with Adam and Ronan across from them, and there was something weird there, but she would figure that out later. Now, she only focused on her happiness and the happiness of her friends around her, and she let it soak through her and make her feel like she could do anything.

They were sharing an extra large pizza with all sorts of toppings, and they were talking about the future.

Under the table, Ronan quietly linked his ankle around Adam's, and also under the table, they were holding hands. Orphan Girl sat beneath them all, laying against Ronan and Adam's legs. 

Ronan said, "Gansey, I'm not going to school anymore."

His voice left no room for argument, and his face was final, resolute. There was a time when Adam would have felt bothered by his statement and Gansey would have protested and done everything he could to keep Ronan in a seat in a classroom until he graduated. But now, he just shrugged.

"Okay," he said. "What are you planning on doing, then?"

"Living at the Barns," Ronan said. "Dreaming."

Adam smiled. Ronan caught it out of the corner of his eye and smiled back. Blue looked curiously between the two of them. 

"What about you, Adam?" she asked softly. "Have you sent in any applications yet?"

It was amazing that Adam had found the time for that, but he had. "Yeah. I finished them all and mailed them out a few weeks ago." He glanced uncertainly at Ronan when he said it. It was a conversation they were going to have to have later.

"Where did you apply?" Ronan asked, his voice masking only the slightest bit of tension. He worked hard to make himself sound curious and interested. 

Adam shrugged. "Everywhere." But he wasn't sure anymore that he wanted to go too far. He had always wanted out of Henrietta. That hadn't changed. But with another glance at Ronan, he remembered what he'd thought to himself only a few days before: there was no burning drive in him anymore to stay away for good. He had something, someone, to come home to. 

It was another conversation they were going to have to have. 

Because although they'd kissed and it seemed like they were on the path to the start of something solid and permanent and real, Adam had yet to tell Ronan, in words, how he felt. He supposed he didn't really need to use words; Ronan had always been more about gestures and body language, anyway. But it would make Adam feel better to get it all out in the open. There was a part of him that wanted to hear Ronan express himself in words, too. Not because he felt like he needed it, but because it would make the thing that had started to grow between them even stronger. And Adam wanted to make it impossibly strong, so it wouldn't break when he left this town. So Ronan wouldn't break.

He'd told himself this before: this was not a game. He wasn't playing. 

Gansey had told Adam not to break Ronan, and Adam didn't want to. 

"Well, the three of us are all going to Venezuela," Henry Cheng said, breaking the chain of Adam's thoughts as he slung his arm around Gansey and Blue's shoulders. "With RoboBee and the Pig."

"I'm not sure the Pig will make it that far," Gansey said and Blue looked at him as if he had just blasphemed. 

"Gansey, the Pig may be a bit faulty, but I cannot believe you would lose faith in it so quickly," she said, and Gansey laughed. It was an easy, true laugh, and when he took Blue's hand, Adam smiled. 

There was a future ahead of all of them. No matter what it held, there was a future. Adam held onto that and took another slice of pizza.


	3. Chapter 3

The Barns felt utterly peaceful and quiet as Adam pulled his shitbox up the drive. He parked next to Ronan's BMW and took a deep breath before he stepped out. Strangely, he felt nervous. His heart was pounding in his chest and his stomach was doing something weird. 

He could see Ronan on the porch. Orphan Girl was bounding around in a field, singing what sounded like the murder squash song to herself and chewing on bark. She ran to Adam when she noticed him and kissed his arm, and Adam smiled and patted the top of her head fondly. 

"Don't tell me you've taught her the murder squash song," Adam called to Ronan, who grinned wickedly from the porch.

"Squash one, squash two-" He began, and Orphan Girl picked it up easily, trilling out the words to the sleeping animals of the Barns. Adam covered his ears and gave Ronan a withering look. 

"I'm gonna stop coming here if I have to keep hearing that," he threatened, but there was no weight to it. He was laughing. He walked up the front steps to meet Ronan, who stood inside the doorway. 

"We'll just have to come to you and sing it, then," Ronan said, and Adam smiled. Ronan's answering smile did another funny thing to Adam's stomach. "How was work?"

"Long." Adam sighed and moved to step into the house, but Ronan didn't move from his position in the doorway. He smirked. They were close - close enough that their chests were inches apart and Adam could feel Ronan's breath and see his brilliant blue eyes staring at him, hungry and wanting. Ronan leaned forward. Adam closed his eyes, his lips parted in anticipation, his breath hitched. 

But Ronan didn't kiss him. Instead, he moved his lips to Adam's good ear and whispered, "You hungry?" Adam could hear the teasing laugh in his voice, and he smirked. He pushed past him into the house, brushing his hand against Ronan's waist. 

"Starving," he said, finding the kitchen. Orphan Girl trailed along after him. Adam grabbed a soda and something that looked like a sandwich from the fridge and sat down at the table to eat. Ronan leaned on the counter and watched him. He could see the tired muscles in Adam's neck and in his arms, too worn out from working so much. He wanted to ask Adam something, but he wasn't really sure how to form the question.

"I think we should . . ." he said, trailing off, because he wasn't really sure what they should do. Adam looked up at him. 

"Talk," he finished, and Ronan nodded. He glanced at Orphan Girl. 

"Hey, go play outside," he nodded towards the door, and his hoofed dream-companion scampered off, bark between her teeth. 

It had been almost two weeks since Cabeswater had sacrificed itself to resurrect Gansey. Thanksgiving break was approaching at Aglionby, where Ronan would keep going until the Christmas break. Then he would drop out for good. It was his own decision to stay for a while longer, not Gansey's. It gave him a chance to see Adam during the day. He hadn't said that out loud, but Adam had sort of guessed. He was good at figuring things out.

"I don't want this to be just a casual thing," Ronan said quickly, before he could lose his courage. He wasn't sure why he felt nervous. Maybe it was the way Adam was looking at him. "I'm serious about it."

Adam nodded. "I know."

"But if you don't want the same thing, I'll back off," Ronan said, taking careful measures to disguise the pain in his voice when he said it. Adam's eyebrows scrunched together. They had barely touched over the last two weeks, both boys unsure of where their relationship stood, where it was headed. It was killing Ronan. It was killing Adam, too.

"I want . . ." Adam started, and Ronan held his breath. Adam looked down at the sandwich in his hands and then put it down on his plate. Ronan watched him study his hands carefully, waiting for him to speak. "I'm all in for this, if that's what you're asking. It's all or nothing. I want to . . . to be with you."

The words set something in Ronan's chest free. It soared as high as Chainsaw could ever fly. 

But still, he asked, "Are you sure?"

Ronan was already sure; he had been sure for almost a year now, for as long as he'd harbored a secret crush on Adam Parrish. But he wanted to be absolutely sure that Adam felt the same way. After the way Adam had kissed him on the front porch of the Barns - God, he thought about that kiss all the time - Ronan had felt certainty in Adam's lips, heard a promise in his breathing. You didn't kiss someone like that without being sure you wanted it.

But still, he asked.

He watched Adam get up from the table. He didn't move as Adam approached him, but his heart felt electrified, pumping miles over the speed limit. 

With hard resolve in his eyes, Adam nodded and said, "I'm sure." And then he put his hands on either side of Ronan's face and kissed him.

The thing in Ronan's chest soared higher.


	4. Chapter 4

Just before Thanksgiving break, Henry Cheng proposed the idea of a "Friendsgiving". He said it was where all of them got together, just the five of them, and had their own little Thanksgiving before they broke bread with their families. Blue thought it was a wonderful idea, and because she thought that, Gansey agreed. Ronan had been more reluctant, content to stay at the Barns and eat fried chicken with Adam and lick the grease off Adam's fingers. But in the end, Adam convinced him to go.

Holidays were never grand things in Adam's family. They used to be in Ronan's, before his father died. But now that his mother was gone and his brothers were in D.C., Ronan wasn't so sure how he felt about holidays. Adam never thought they were anything special, as he never received any presents on Christmas or his birthday, never attended any New Years celebrations, and never shared a meal with his family on Thanksgiving. The only fanfare he ever really remembered there being around a holiday was Kavinsky's disastrous Fourth of July parties, and he didn't like remembering those. The last one hadn't turned out so well.

Gansey had always spent the holidays with his family, but right now, he was still patching up the damage he'd done when he'd missed his mother's fundraiser because of searching for Glendower. And how well _that_ had turned out.

Holidays in 300 Fox Way were always small, happy little things; there were not big parties, but the psychics never wanted them. Since Blue found Calla and Maura wrapping her Christmas presents when she was six, the magic of Christmas had always been sort of lost on her, but the holidays had always been about her family, anyway. Thanksgiving was always memorable, though, because Persephone baked pie after pie after pie, and those were eaten in lieu of turkey and gravy and stuffing. No cranberry sauce, no corn bread, no mashed potatoes: simply pie. 

The whimsy of American holidays had always been fascinating to Henry Cheng, though. He didn't know where he'd gotten the idea of Friendsgiving - perhaps from a TV show or something he'd seen online once - but he clung to it immediately, and so he invited everyone to Litchfield House.

This was one of the first reasons why Ronan hadn't wanted to go. It had taken a lot of convincing on Adam's part to get him to leave the Barns. 

In the week since Adam had kissed Ronan in the kitchen, and they'd told each other they were all in, they hadn't told any of the others about their relationship. It had just been secret looks in school, small touches and brushing of the hands in the hallways, making out in the Barns where no one could see them. Adam had asked if they should tell anyone else, though Gansey already knew. He suspected Blue knew, too. In fact, it might not have even needed to be said out loud. It was just the truth: Ronan and Adam were together, and that was it. 

"It's nobody's fucking business," Ronan had said against Adam's lips, and Adam supposed he was right.

So they didn't hide when they walked up the front steps of Litchfield House on the day of Friendsgiving. They didn't hold hands, but they stood close together, arms brushing. Adam had discovered Ronan was more content to touch this way; as long as they were close enough to brush their fingertips together, and close enough for Ronan to take Adam's hand when he wanted to, that was enough. 

Orphan Girl was with them. Neither Adam nor Ronan liked the idea of leaving her alone at the Barns, and so she hobbled beside them up the front steps of Litchfield House. 

"I think we should give her a name," Adam suggested, putting his hand on Orphan Girl's head. It was something he found himself doing a lot when he was near her; it was comforting to have his palm on the top of her head, and she seemed to enjoy it, too.

"What?" Ronan asked. His mouth was mashed into a grudging line, already hating being this close to Litchfield. Adam skittered his fingers up Ronan's arm to calm him down. 

"We can't keep calling her Orphan Girl," Adam said. "That sounds terrible." 

Ronan nodded in silent agreement. "I've been thinking about that. But I have no clue what to call her. I don't know what fits."

"Hm." Adam looked down at the hoofed girl, waiting for his mind to come up with an idea. It gave him none. Maybe one of the others would be able to come up with something suitable. Probably Blue would suggest a good one. 

There was a familiar rumble in the driveway behind them, and they turned to see the Pig in all its glory. Blue and Gansey stumbled out, smiles on their faces. They smiled a lot since Gansey had been brought back to life. Adam didn't blame them. 

"Hello, hello," Gansey said, bumping fists with Adam and Ronan. Blue smiled at Orphan Girl and ruffled her hair. "Why haven't you gone in yet? Is nobody home?"

"Ronan doesn't want to be the first to knock," Adam said, smirking at Ronan, who glared at him. "It's against his principles."

Before Gansey could knock, Ronan swung his fist forward and pounded on the door. Adam laughed. 

"Don't push me, Parrish," he said, and Adam smiled at him. Ronan's heart skipped.

Henry opened the door and ushered them in, dressed in something that resembled a pilgrim's costume, sans the hat - a hat would damage his hair. "Friends! Welcome to the first official Friendsgiving! Turkey and stuffing for all!" He laughed gleefully and lead them to a dining room, where a meal just big enough for the five of them was spread out on a long mahogany table. 

It was good. It was the first real Thanksgiving Adam had ever had. And despite the constant look of indifference Ronan kept on his face, Adam knew he had fun, too. 

Over dessert - a selection of pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie that made Adam and Blue think sadly of Persephone - Ronan brought up the idea of naming Orphan Girl. 

"Anyone got any ideas?" he asked, spraying half a can of whipped cream on his slice of pumpkin pie. Blue tapped her fork against her lips thoughtfully. Gansey seemed perplexed, and Henry scratched his chin. 

"How about . . . Opal?" Blue said quietly, staring at the girl, who was chewing on one of the table legs. Ronan gently nudged her away. He looked at her tenderly, with care in his eyes, and Adam smiled. He liked when he caught Ronan in those vulnerable moments. 

"I think that's right," Adam said, staring at Opal. He said 'right' because it seemed like the simple answer to a question on his homework. It had been the right answer all along. 

Ronan nodded, ruffling the top of Opal's hair. He smiled.

"Opal," he said. 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

There was a knock on Adam's door in his apartment over St. Agnes. He knew who it was immediately; since he spent most of his time at the Barns now, his friends had grown used to finding him there. And if Adam was not at the Barns, it meant Ronan came to visit him. 

Aglionby had let out for Christmas break, which meant Ronan had officially dropped out. He and Adam saw each other every afternoon after Adam came home or he got off from work; if he didn't have work, Adam would drive straight to the Barns and do his homework at the kitchen table or on the couch while Ronan tried to distract him with methods that were hard to resist. But today, Adam had gone back to his own apartment to shower before driving to the Barns. Work this afternoon had left him covered in grease and oil and smelling like gasoline. Ronan always said it was sexy and that it turned him on, but Adam happened to like feeling clean.

Adam had just gotten out of the shower; he opened the door in his sweatpants, drying a towel over his hair. Ronan stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets. For a second, Adam was a little self-conscious - they had seen each other shirtless before, but their relationship had still only gone so far as kissing a lot. And Adam always felt self-conscious compared to Ronan. Ronan was chiseled, sculpted, beautiful, and Adam considered himself skinny, weak, unremarkable. 

"Hey," Ronan said, eyeing Adam's bare chest. He stepped inside and closed the door before the cold winter air could seep in. "Can I crash here tonight?" He had a backpack over his shoulders, which meant he planned on doing it anyway. 

Ronan had only slept over a few times before, and he usually slept on the floor. When Adam stayed at the Barns, he usually slept in Declan or Matthew's room. Though there was no doubt about the seriousness of their relationship, and both boys were fully committed, there were still lines that hadn't been crossed yet. Even after a month, they were still nervous with each other. Learning each other. They were careful and cautious and shy. 

"Sure," Adam said as Ronan dropped his backpack on the floor. He would've preferred staying at the Barns; there was much more to do there. Adam's small, cramped apartment didn't offer much in the way of entertainment. It was why he always went there, and Ronan hardly came here, aside from church every Sunday. "Where's Opal?"

"Dropped her off with the psychics," Ronan said, making himself comfortable on the floor. He stretched out near Adam's bed, eyeing Adam's chest again. Adam kind of wanted to put a t-shirt on, but he didn't. There was something that thrilled in him when Ronan looked at him like that.

"I have to work on a project," Adam said, and Ronan shrugged, tugging out his earphones. Usually, he would've jibed Adam about still having work to do even over the break, but he had stopped teasing him so much about his work ethic. He found it kind of endearing, now, though he never said that.

"Don't worry about me," Ronan smiled, an easy, lighthearted smile. "I'll be dreaming. Wake me up when you're done."

Though Ronan wasn't purposefully trying to distract Adam now, Adam got distracted anyway. Ronan was in and out of slumber, filling Adam's room with small dream things to entertain himself. A number of hours passed while Adam moved between working on his project and staring at Ronan. Finally, when the sky was dark enough and his watch read 10:30 and his back hurt from slumping in his chair, he gave up. 

Ronan was awake when Adam put his pencil down, and he looked up curiously. Adam sighed and stood from the chair, stretching his arms over his head. Ronan hungrily watched the way his muscles moved. 

"I'm tired," Adam said, and Ronan nodded. Adam went to brush his teeth, though he hadn't eaten, and then threw the covers on his bed back. He looked nervously at Ronan, who was still watching him. "You don't have to sleep on the floor, if you don't want to."

Ronan's eyes burned. Adam's heart stuttered. 

Then, "Okay." 

Adam crawled into bed as Ronan took off his jacket and his t-shirt, and he turned his head when Ronan produced a pair of plaid pajama pants from his backpack. They reminded Adam of the Barns. He heard Ronan change, brush his teeth, and then closed his eyes when he heard his footsteps come closer to the bed. Ronan crawled carefully in beside him. It was a small bed, and it creaked under their weight.

Adam turned his head. Ronan's back was to him. His heart was in his throat as he turned his body, daring to bring himself a little closer to Ronan. His fingers came up to trace the intricate lines of the tattoo on Ronan's back, and he heard Ronan let out a soft breath. 

"I like it when you do that," Ronan whispered, and there was so much in his voice, raw, unchained emotion. 

Slowly, Adam pressed himself against Ronan's back, twining their legs together under the sheets. Ronan sighed again. He found Adam's hand and pressed his fingers to his mouth. 

They slept like kings.


	6. Chapter 6

On a day in January, when Gansey and Blue were entertaining Opal and Matthew in the Barns and Ronan and Adam had escaped to Ronan's room so they could make out, Ronan asked Adam to move in.

"You want to stay here?" Ronan asked, breathlessly, as he clutched at Adam's shirt and kissed Adam's neck. Adam, breathless himself, had to stop and collect himself before he could give a proper response.

"I already stay here every week," he pointed out, dragging Ronan's mouth back to his. They heard Matthew's laugh come from downstairs (he had come to visit after Ronan had asked Declan, missing his brother) and knew they could be caught at any moment, but that made it more thrilling. Adam's skin tingled, his nerves live wires. Ronan had him against the wall, and his legs were around his waist, Adam's hands pressed against Ronan's back, holding him closer. Adam's brain and body were all focused on tongue against tongue, wet lips against wet lips, tongue on skin. They'd been starved all week - Adam had been working longer hours, and as a result he and Ronan had barely gotten to spend time together.

"I mean move in," Ronan said, his lips at Adam's good ear. He nipped at his earlobe gently, and Adam closed his eyes and let out a breath. Move into the Barns?

"Permanently?" he asked, and here Ronan pulled back. Adam sorely missed the touch of his mouth on his own.

"Only if you want to," Ronan said, unsure now. Adam loved him in these moments - uncertain, nervous, shy, cautious when he was taking another step in their relationship. "And you wouldn't have to stay in Declan's room or Matthew's. You could sleep in mine. With me."

Adam realized what he'd just thought. He loved him in these moments. He'd thought the word  _loved._

"Yes," Adam said, answering both Ronan and himself. "I want to move in. And sleep in your room. With you."

Ronan grinned, and his smile was wide enough, his eyes bright enough to fill Adam's whole body with warmth. "Okay." Then he pressed himself against Adam again, and they kissed some more, fiercely and hungrily, Ronan's hands in Adam's hair.

"I love you, Adam," Ronan said. 

Adam felt his heart stop. He put his hand on Ronan's face, gently, brushing his fingers across his cheek. Adam nodded. 

"I love you, too," he said. He smiled and kissed him, gentler this time, slowly. Ronan's arms wound around Adam's waist, pulling him in tight. 

"Guys!" Matthew shouted up the stairs. Adam and Ronan broke apart, a little ruefully. "What are you doing up there? Searching for treasure?"

Adam fixed his shirt, which was skewed, and tried to cover up the dark spot Ronan had left on his neck. Ronan gave him a wicked grin and winked. 

"We're coming!" he shouted to his brother, and he kissed Adam once more before he left the room. Adam let his breath catch up to him before he followed. 


	7. Chapter 7

Before Adam even opened the envelope he received at his new permanent address of the Barns, Ronan threw a party. 

Adam knew exactly what it meant - it meant that colleges had received his applications, had looked over them, and had made their decisions, and all Adam had to do was open the envelope to see if he'd been accepted. He'd gotten acceptance letters from all of the other schools he'd applied to, but this particular envelope was from his top choice school. William and Mary was a school at a perfectly acceptable distance from Ronan and the Barns, and it had a decent Environmental Sciences program. Adam had applied for a minor in Latin, too. 

"Of course you got in, Parrish," Ronan said. "What fucking school would be stupid enough not to accept you?"

But still, Adam was nervous. He didn't want to open the envelope. But he was going to have to, and in front of all his friends, no less, because Ronan had invited them all to the Barns.

Blue, Gansey and Henry arrived in the Pig, Blue carrying a box that looked suspiciously like it might hold a cake. Opal danced around their legs as they moved up the front steps, and Blue had to stop herself from dropping the box in her hands. She placed it gently on the kitchen counter and threw her arms around Adam in a hug. 

"Congratulations!" 

"I don't even know if I got in," Adam said wryly, glaring at Ronan. This was his fault. But Ronan simply smiled. 

"Oh, pshaw." Blue waved her hand in the air dismissively. "You so did."

"Really, Adam, how could you not have been accepted?" Gansey asked, trying to peek inside the cake box before Blue swatted his hand away. "You're top of the class. You've worked so hard for everything you've gotten. If you  _didn't_ get in, I'd know the world was ending."

"And while you're off in Ye Olde Historic Williamsburg, we will be on an expedition across the world," Henry said, beaming at Blue and Gansey. 

"So you decided to take the gap year, then?" Ronan asked Gansey, and he nodded. Henry nodded along with him, and so did Blue. "Good for you guys. Send us postcards."

Anyone who knew him well enough could recognize the slight hint of bitterness in Ronan's voice, and Adam winced, suddenly regretting the envelope in his hands. With him gone, and Gansey and Blue traveling, Ronan and Opal would be alone here in the Barns.

But Adam would be back, he had to keep reminding himself. And Ronan wanted it this way - he wanted to be the solitary ruler of his dream-kingdom, and he wanted Adam to go to college because it was what Adam wanted. And Ronan knew Adam would come back. He had promised him that.

"Open the envelope, Adam!" Blue encouraged. "And then we can eat cake."

Adam stared at the envelope in his hands. With a deep breath, he dug his nail under the seam. He could feel Ronan's eyes on him, watching carefully. He pulled out the contents of the envelope and read the letter inside. 

Adam held his breath. "I got in." He paused. "With a full scholarship."

Blue hugged him again. Gansey clapped his shoulder. And Ronan kissed him, right there in front of everyone. When he pulled back, there was immeasurable pride on his face. He kissed Adam's fingers, as he always did.

"Told you," he said, and Adam smiled.

He got in. He'd gotten into his top school with a full ride. And though the summer still loomed before them, and he hadn't even graduated Aglionby yet, this meant something. This meant that Adam Parrish was going to college. He had done it. Everything he had worked for, so hard and for so long, was culminated in this one, single moment. 

But it also meant that he was leaving. At the end of the summer, he was leaving his new home at the Barns, his home with Ronan, and Opal. 

Ronan kissed him again. 

"I'll be here," he whispered in Adam's good ear, as if he could read his thoughts. 

Ronan would be waiting for him when he got back. 

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

For Blue Sargent and her raven boys, the summer was tinted with dreams.

It was warm, and it was soft, and it was starry nights and laughing with each other, staying up too late whispering stories, and it was feeling like kings at the top of the world. 

Adam, Gansey, and Henry had graduated Aglionby. Ronan was there in the stands, watching Adam walk across the stage and get the diploma he'd worked ceaselessly for his entire life. And he would never tell anyone, but his eyes teared up with pride when he saw the smile on Adam's face. 

They spent every moment together that summer, all of them, every waking hour when they were not dreaming. Even Henry, who had somehow made a home with them, was included in everything they did. Opal was always there, and Gansey and Blue were always holding hands, and Henry was always holding Blue's other hand, and Adam and Ronan were always, always smiling at each other, looking at each other as they had been looking for months and months and months. Their happiness poured out of their skin and spread to the people around them, so much so that when they crowded in 300 Fox Way, Calla always yelled at them to go be happy somewhere else. 

They couldn't help it. It was such a beautiful thing to feel this way, and this summer, the last summer before Adam left for college and Gansey and Blue and Henry let themselves loose on the world, was their finest. It was filled with adventures to new places, waking up at two in the morning because one of them could not sleep and so the rest of them stayed up with the other, trips to the whimsical Dollar Tree and the Fresh Eagle to find the strangest things they could pick from the shelves, coming up with things for Ronan to dream up, and it was filled with laughter and leaves and the summer breeze and the thrilling future, dazzling them all.

One night, Blue decided they should all have a sleepover. 

Sleepovers were rare and strange things to her, probably because she had never had any friends she wanted to have them with. But a sleepover with her raven boys felt like a giddy idea. It was not the Barns they stayed at, though it was plenty big enough, but Monmouth Manufacturing, for old times' sake. It felt gloriously wonderful for them all to be there together again, and to have Henry among them this time. Blue and Gansey and Adam and Ronan missed Noah, for a few moments. They didn't feel the absence of him, though, so much as feel his memories, or rather the memory of him. It made them all smiling and reverent, intoxicated with the times they'd shared and the heat of the summer and the magic between them and running through their veins.

"It's just like I remembered," Blue said when they walked into the second floor, as though it had been years since they'd been there. Immediately, she ran to Gansey's bed and took his mattress and shoved it to the floor. She went into Noah's old room and took the mattress from there, dragging it out into the middle of the room, and then, with a glance at Ronan (who nodded) she ran to Ronan's room and dragged his mattress out, too. She pushed all three of them together to make a three-fold mattress big enough for them all to sleep on. They piled sheets and blankets and pillows on top of it. 

"What are we supposed to do?" Gansey asked, unsure of what exactly a sleepover was. He supposed, if Blue had explained the concept correctly, that he, Ronan, and Noah had a sleepover every night they lived in Monmouth together, though a sleepover seemed to suggest they should've been sleeping in the same room.

"Do you have any board games?" Blue asked, putting her finger in the air as if a lightbulb had suddenly go off over her head. 

Ronan found board games in a treasure chest of things they'd collected when he and Gansey had first moved in. There was Monopoly, which seemed the most dangerous option, and there was Life, and Scrabble. They chose the game of Life, because it seemed ironic. They sat in the middle of the mattresses Blue had arranged on the floor and played Life until Henry emerged the winner, victorious and mighty, pounding his chest. And then they played Monopoly, but they had to stop when it threatened to tear their friendship apart. (Blue heard that Monopoly had been known to do that). 

And then, finally, they went to sleep. Or rather they all put their pajamas on and curled up in a complicated web of legs and arms on the mattresses. Gansey and Blue dominated the middle, with Blue's head pooled on Gansey's chest, her arms around him (as she almost always kept them around him after he had been resurrected), Henry on her other side, his ankle thrown over hers, arm stretched out toward Gansey's head. Gansey's hand touched Ronan's arm, and Adam was curled with his head on Ronan's stomach, one of his hands clutched in Ronan's and the other thrown across Gansey and Blue. Ronan's other hand rested on Adam's neck, and they were all of them perfectly, incredibly content. They stayed like this until they fell asleep, talking to each other and whispering things and wondering of what they would dream tonight. 

It was a beautiful moment that Blue worked hard to etch permanently in her mind. It was a memory that she would keep forever, treasuring it, taking it out to look at it from time to time. 

It was a still, glittering night of their last summer, and they were the kings of it. 

They were the kings of dreams.


End file.
